Page 22 of Under His Embrace

“I don’t know, Caleb.”

Caleb?Did I hear that right? It sounded like she saidCaleb, but maybe it was something else, distorted with the muffled sound traveling through the closed door.

Did she say Caleb? Is she talking to another man in there?No guard would’ve let anyone inside, and I knew she had to be using her phone that was returned.

My heart broke again. Whatever solid piece of it that remained shattered with her speaking to amanwith such a loving, caring tone.

I didn’t wait. I turned the doorknob and entered, catching her in the act of swiftly lowering the phone from her ear and hanging up.

10

CHLOE

“Am I interrupting something?”

I blinked once and tried to breathe through the panic. The sensation of terror was an old friend. Fear constantly hit me, and I wondered how my heart could take it anymore.

I was safe here. Guards wouldn’t let anyone in. I wouldn’t be harmed, even though this was a Mafia location. But I wasnotsafe from him. Franco presented a live and real threat with him glowering at me like that, so serious and cautious.

If he’d come a moment earlier…

If he'd popped in a second ago…

Swallowing hard, I strained to convince myself that he didn’t know. I had to believe that he was unaware that I had a son.

The moment Romeo and Liam went to breakfast and gave me my phone, I was desperate to use it and call Caleb. He was fine. I was certain he was having the time of his life in Brooklyn with his friend. Ethan was a good, solid man who’d keep his grandson, Brent, and Caleb safe.

After all the danger and fright, after being on the run, and definitely after the way Franco and I reconnected yesterday, Ihad to hear my son’s voice. I needed the confirmation that he was all right while I worried I never would be.

“No.” I cleared my throat and tried to say it again, stronger. “No. You’re not interrupting.”

He wasn’t in the mood to buy it. If he hadn’t popped in so quickly, so suddenly, I could’ve had a chance to prepare myself. I was stuck between too many emotions to keep a mask on. Heartache at not seeing my son cut through me. I wanted to keep talking to him and hear his little voice. Sadness at knowing I was failing as a mother weighed me down. I wished I could provide a better homelife for him. But most of all, I was seized with anxiety about what Franco would do if he found out about Caleb.

He can’t know. Not like this. Not now. Not ever.He would never, ever forgive me, and knowing that felt like such a cruel letdown from how good it felt to be with him yesterday.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Just checking on something,” I said. Trying to look and act braver and stronger than I felt as I hid my past, I furrowed my brow and attempted an expression of being offended. “I did have a life before you brought me here.”

“Who is he?” he asked, not budging from whatever impressions he’d made. I didn’t know how much he’d overheard before he walked in through the door. Thinking back, I realized that I didn’t say much to my son. Mostly, I listened to him going on and on about a dinosaur program at the museum that Ethan took them to that morning.

I stared back at him, waiting for an answer to come to me. He must have heard enough to hear Caleb’s name. But there was a chance that he hadn’t, and I didn’t want to give away anything. This might be nothing more than him assuming I had to be talking to another man, some stroke of jealousy.

“Do you have a man on the side?”

“On the side?” I snapped. “We had sex yesterday, Franco. It’s not like I’ve been sleeping around with you for a pattern or a…” I growled, frustrated with how quickly he could insinuate that I was up to no good. All I wanted to do was survive, to get by and do the best I could for my son, dammit.

“Do you have a man who’s going to be looking for you?” he repeated.

The first time he asked it, it sounded like a question born of envy, of jealousy, as though he hated the idea of me with anyone else. As if he had any right to that. The second time he asked if I had someone else who’d notice my absence, it came across as more of a security detail. That he’d need to be aware of someone coming after me while I was here under their version of witness protection.

“No.” I shook my head, annoyed but still worried. “No, of course not.” Forcing myself to lift my head and look him in the eye, I added, “I wouldn’t…” I heaved out a sigh. “I wouldn’t have had sex with you if I wasn’t single.”

He closed the door behind him, seeming to need a moment to let my replies sink in. I had no doubt he was cross-checking what I said with whatever prejudices and assumptions he wanted to cling to. When he settled back to face me, watching me with that unbreakable stoicism, I couldn’t read him.

My ability to guess what he was thinking must have gone rusty over the last ten years. I had no clue whether he’d push, or why. Clearly, he’d want to know if I was contacting someone who’d pose a threat to the Constella Family. But was that it? Was that all he wanted to know? If I was a threat or complication he couldn’t allow in his life?

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

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